Systems and methods for raised impressions

ABSTRACT

Described herein is a system and method for displaying a raised impression of a design through a cover, such as an overgarment or other material. For example, a star or other desired design may be covered by a garment in order to display a raised impression of the design without exposing the entire design. Such raised impressions can serve many purposes including a method for women to attract males, advertising, to protest, serve as a reminder, notice to others, or other similar uses where raised impressions provide a means to convey a message. Such raised impressions provide a means to convey messages without explicitly broadcasting the message.

PRIORITY

This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/627,474, filed Nov. 12, 2004, the contents of which are incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Clothing has been used to cover the human body for ages. However, there has never been a way to display a raised impression through a garment or other covering worn on the body, e.g., a bandage or du-rag. Additionally, there has never been a way to display different raised impressions in the same location by providing a means to alter the underlying design. Thus, there is currently a need for displaying a changeable raised impression through an overgarment.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This patent and all the embodiments herein deal with a displaying a raised impression of a design through a cover, such as an overgarment or other material. For example, a star or other desired design may be covered by a garment in order to display a raised impression of the design without exposing the entire design. Such raised impressions can serve many purposes including a method for women to attract males (for example at a nightclub or discothèque), advertising (e.g., a BEER design attached to the bra of an attractive woman, with the impression showing through), to protest, serve as a reminder (e.g., an appointment time design under a shirt), notice to others (e.g., stay away), or other similar uses where raised impressions provide a means to convey a message. Such raised impressions provide a means to convey messages without explicitly broadcasting the message.

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a method for creating a raised impression comprising attaching a design to a location, and covering said design with a material such that a raised impression of the design is visible.

In other aspects, part of the design visible; the design has a height component that contributes to creating the raised impression; the design is attached by at least one of a tape strip, glue, or velcro; the design is attached by inserting the design into a pocket; the design is covered by fabric; the design is attached to one of a garment or a wearer; the garment is a bra; the design is comprised of at least one of a symbol, an alphanumeric character, and punctuation; the design is comprised of at least one of a blinking light, a fluorescent color, and a glow stick; the design is an advertiser's logo; and the advertiser's logo is attached to one of a garment or a wearer.

In one aspect, the present invention is directed to a system for creating a raised impression comprising a design having a height component that contributes to creating the raised impression, a location where said design is attached, and a material for covering said design at said location such that the raised impression of the design is viewable.

In other aspects, the design is visible; the material is fabric; the design is attached to one of a garment or a wearer; the design is covered by fabric; the design is comprised of at least one of a symbol, an alphanumeric character, and punctuation; the design is comprised of at least one of a blinking light, a fluorescent color, and a glow stick; and design is an advertiser's logo.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates exemplary locations for raised impression designs for one embodiment using a bra as the overgarment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

As shown in FIG. 1, a bra 100 can have any number of locations for a raised impression 110. A design (described in detail below) can be attached to the bra using any means and at any location in order to display the raised impression of the design without exposing the entire design. In one embodiment, the entire design is covered. In another embodiment, portions of the design are left exposed. For example, as noted below, a flashing light portion of the design may be left exposed for added effect.

Although FIG. 1 describes the invention in the context of a bra, those skilled in the art will recognize that any garment can provide the desired result. Furthermore, in various embodiments, any desired garment can have any number of display locations. By way of non-limiting example only, the raised impressions may be displayed using a design and a t-shirt, a collared shirt, a blouse, a dress, pants, shorts, warm-ups, sweat pants, tube tops, swim trunks, vests, biker's tights, dancer's tights or sweaters. Also, materials that stretch will provide a different effect than materials that drape over a design. As will be recognized, various embodiments can utilized different clothing materials and fits for different raised impression effects. Additionally, wearing loose fitting clothing can add an additional effect, whereby the raised impression is not always viewable. By wearing a tight fitting overgarment, it is possible to display the raised impression at all times.

In one embodiment, a design may be attached to the outer surface of an undergarment such that the raised impression can be seen when an outer garment is placed over the design. In another embodiment, a design is placed between layers of a garment, or in a pocket sufficient to hold the design. When held between layers or in a pocket, the raised impression can be seen through the outermost layer. In another embodiment, the design is attached directly to the wearer.

By way of non-limiting example only, a design can be attached to a garment using a pin, rod, nail, tack, handle, dowel, safety pin, paper clip, snap, Velcro, sticky tape, glue, other adhesive material, string, wire, yarn, button, other sewing method, clip, clamp (or other pressure type connection device), zipper, hook, or any other method suitable for securing the design to the garment. By way of non-limiting example, the design can be attached to a wearer using tape, glue, pressure, suction, gravity, or other method suitable for securing the design to the wearer. In another embodiment, the design is attached to the underside of the overgarment. In this embodiment, when the garment is worn, the raised impression can be seen.

In one embodiment, the design is not permanently affixed. In another embodiment, the design may be permanently affixed.

In another embodiment, the design is created such that any pressure on the wearer is distributed over a larger surface area than the design itself. For example, the side closest to the wearer's skin may flair out, or the design itself may be mounted to a platform to distribute the pressure of the design. In yet another embodiment, the display location is created to distribute the pressure of the design over a larger surface area than of the design itself. For example, a mounting platform may be built into the display location, padding may be provided, or some backing material may be provided to distribute the pressure of the design. In this regard, the design will not cause any discomfort to the wearer. Further, where a physical connector is used, it may be attached to the design in such a way that the wearer is not discomforted or harmed, and may also be designed so that attaching the design to a garment will not cause the wearer any harm or discomfort.

Overgarments are preferably any article of clothing worn over the design, but may also be any item sufficient to cover the location of the raised impression, e.g., a bandage, towel, hat, du-rag, bandana, armband, wristband, etc. Further, layers of overgarments are also contemplated. Where layers are used, the outermost garment can be considered a second overgarment. Garments beneath the outermost garment are often called undergarments within this patent, however, each layer can also be considered an overgarment. For example, the first layer can be referred to as overgarment one, and the outer most layer can be referred to as the final overgarment. Intermediate layers can be labeled layer 1, layer 2, etc., as necessary. For example, traditional undergarments, e.g., underwear, bras, and t-shirts, can be considered undergarments, and clothing worn over these can be considered final overgarments. In one embodiment, the raised impression is high enough to be displayed through multiple layers of overgarments. As will be recognized, no layering is required, and in some embodiments, it may be preferable to for the wearer to have only one overgarment. For example, it may be desirable for the wearer to only have on a bra displaying a raised impression for added effect.

Returning now to FIG. 1 and the example of using a bra, the bra may have any number of predesignated spots for attachment. In one embodiment, these spots can have ½ of the method for connecting (e.g., the male or female portion of a snap, a slot for inserting a metal pin, one side of a Velcro strip, etc). The bra may also have suggested locations where the wearer will not notice the design, and may also have suggested spots where the design will be most noticeable. These suggested locations may be marked with different colors, or be reinforced to provide long life of the location for applying the design.

As noted above, in one embodiment, the design is detachable, however in other embodiments, the design may be permanently attached to one location, or permanently attached to the bra (or other garment), but still moveable (on a track, or attached to the strap but able to slide up and down for example). The removable designs may connect to any place the wearer desires, such as the underwire, the strap, the cup, the casing, the body band, the top wires, any frilly or lacy part. This accommodates women with different bust sizes, or bra designs, or desired raised impression results. As noted above, the design is not limited to attachment to a bra, and may, for example, be attached to any garment or directly to the skin.

As will be recognized, any desired design may be used, including, words, icons, symbols, letters, etc. For example, the words ‘sexy’, ‘flirt’, ‘dangerous’ etc can be used, to show a raised impression of the word. Additionally, icons may be used for the design such as a single letter, a combination of letters (which may be worn independently or together to form a word), a circle, an eye, a heart, or any arbitrary picture, symbol, etc. In one embodiment, the garment and/or the connecting location is created to permit daisy-chaining designs. For example, a chain of letters to form a word, or a chain of symbols to form a unique design. Those skilled in the art will recognize that multi-sided designs can be used to reduce the cost of acquiring designs. For example, a cube shaped design can have up to 6 different designs in one cube.

The manufacture of the designs as well as the attachment location on the design for the connector is encompassed in this description, i.e., the location of the connector on the design itself. For example, the connector may be moveable to predesignated spots on the design, or may moveable to any random location, to facilitate placing the design on different areas of the bra. By this, you may rotate a word to show up better, or may have 2 or more connectors on a very long word. Both the connectors and the connection spots may be standardized to provide consistency in their connection or connecting location, or may be random or non-predetermined to allow the designs to be added to already existing bras. This also provides a mechanism to allow the connector for a multi-sided design to be placed at the most advantaged location.

In another embodiment, the connectors may also be manufactured to allow stacking of the designs to add more depth to the impression, i.e., two stars on top of each other may provide a higher raised impression through the overgarment. This may be done through standardize locations of the connectors or other combination of the connectors noted above. In one embodiment, there may be one or more ‘base’ connectors for the rest of the designs to connect to.

These designs may be made any color for increasing appeal, and may also incorporate blinking lights, glow in the dark sections, glow sticks, fluorescent colors, etc., for noticeability. Moveable designs running on tracks, slides, slots, rails etc, may also be used. The designs should preferably be light (not heavy), however, so that it does not burden the wearer, and so that multiple designs may be worn if desired. The connectors should preferably also be light (not heavy). In certain embodiments, selected portions of the design can be exposed for added effect. For example, the blinking, glowing, or fluorescent sections of the design may be exposed.

Further, the designs may be skin stick-ons so that they may be worn anywhere, not just on the bra, or may attach to any garment. As described above, the design may be attached to a garment under the outer garment, such that when the outer garment is worn, the design can be see, or the design can be attached to the underside of the outer garment, also resulting in a raised impression that can be seen when the outer garment is worn. That is, the design may attach to an under-shirt for showing the impression through an overgarment (attached to any garment that will have an overgarment), or attached directly to the skin where to show the raised impression when one or more over garments are worn. Any overgarment may be worn depending on the shape and size of the design, and the desired effect. For example a tight overgarment might be worn where the design is small, but a loose overgarment may be worn where the design is large. The opposite can also occur as a wearer desires.

In certain embodiments, the designs are machine washable, and do not bleed in the washer or dryer, and may also be rust proof or rust resistant.

The dimensions of the design may also be altered to give a deeper, wider, longer design. In one embodiment, this is a condition of manufacture (the inherent size of the design). In another embodiment, this is a result of the design being stackable or chainable as noted above. In one embodiment, these stackable and chainable designs may be duplicates of each other.

In one embodiment a design may be designated with a suggested or preferred connection location, i.e., connects to clothes (or skin), connects to already connected design, connects as level 2, connects to add height, etc.

In one embodiment, the designs are worn with a shirt system designed to allow the design to be more noticeable. For example, an overgarment may have holes located strategically to allow part or all the design to show through, or part or all of an undergarment's raised impression to show through. As a further example, an overgarment may have stretchier material where the designs are to located. Additionally, the design may attach to the underside of the overgarment, rather than to the undergarment or skin. This may be through any connection device as noted above, including a pocket on the body-side of the garment intended specifically for the design. In this way, the design may show the raised impression when worn. This also facilitates experimenting with locations of the design, as well as transportability of the design between overgarments and undergarments, or any over/undergarment and direct connection to the body.

There are many uses for the raised impressions viewable through a garment. For example, it may be particularly useful for a woman desiring to attract males at a nightclub or discothèque. The raised impression may also be used for advertising purposes, such as, a BEER design attached to the bra of an attractive woman, with the impression showing through, might sell more beer, or a lightly raised impression of “vote for Bush” may create a subliminal message to indeed vote for Bush. This is another aspect of the present invention: a system and method for advertising using raised impression designs through clothes, and also, designs raised through clothes that are associated with a sexual location. This may create an association of sex and the item, which may subconsciously create an additional desire to purchase the item.

Other embodiments include using the raised impression to protest, to serve as a reminder (e.g., an appointment time design under a shirt), to serve as notice to others (e.g., stay away), or any other use where a raised impression through an overgarment would be beneficial.

Further, other embodiments include placing the raised impression on headwear (e.g., hats or caps), footwear (e.g., shoes or boots), or other accessories (e.g., wallets, purses, pocketbooks, umbrellas, baby strollers, etc. For example, it is possible to have a pocket or pouch (or other specific location) for placing a design, with the pocket or pouch covered with an elastic or other material to create a raised impression. In this way raised impressions can be implemented on any item, clothing, accessory, or otherwise. Again, by way of example only, such raised impressions can be implemented on car seats, theater seats, or any other item that can be covered with fabric, leather, plastic, or other typical covering materials. In other embodiments, specific locations can be built into locations that would not normally be covered with a material, such as a pocket or recess in a wall that has a covering. In fact, in the spirit of this disclosure, and all of these embodiments, a raised impression can be implemented on virtually any surface, so long as a design can be covered to create the raised impression.

While the invention has been described in connection with specific embodiments, it is evident that numerous alternatives, modifications, and variations will be apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing description. In particular, and as noted above, although FIG. 1 illustrates using the invention in connection with a bra, any garment can be used. Further, as described above, a raised impression can be implemented at any location where a design can be covered to create the raised impression. 

1. A method for creating a raised impression comprising: attaching a design to a location, and covering said design with a material such that the raised impression of the design is visible.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein part of the design visible.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein the design has a height component that contributes to creating the raised impression.
 4. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is attached by at least one of a tape strip, glue, or velcro.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is attached by inserting the design into a pocket.
 6. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is covered by fabric.
 7. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is attached to one of a garment or a wearer.
 8. The method of claim 7 wherein the garment is a bra.
 9. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is comprised of at least one of a symbol, an alphanumeric character, and punctuation.
 10. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is comprised of at least one of a blinking light, a fluorescent color, and a glow stick.
 11. The method of claim 1 wherein the design is an advertiser's logo.
 12. The method of claim 10 wherein the advertiser's logo is attached to one of a garment or a wearer.
 13. A system for creating a raised impression comprising a design having a height component that contributes to creating the raised impression, a location where said design is attached, and a material for covering said design at said location such that the raised impression of the design is viewable.
 14. The system of claim 13 wherein part of the design is visible.
 15. The system of claim 13 wherein the material is fabric.
 16. The system of claim 13 wherein the design is attached to one of a garment or a wearer.
 17. The system of claim 13 wherein the design is covered by fabric.
 18. The system of claim 13 wherein the design is comprised of at least one of a symbol, an alphanumeric character, and punctuation.
 19. The system of claim 13 wherein the design is comprised of at least one of a blinking light, a fluorescent color, and a glow stick.
 20. The system of claim 13 wherein the design is an advertiser's logo. 